Helicobacter Forums

I had a blood test done back at the end of Jan that according to the practitioner, confirmed I had h. pylori. I started on the 2 antibiotics and prevacid. That seemed to help after a few days. It has now been almost 2 months and I have lost 19 pounds, I cannot eat, partly because of I feel so sick and partly because I have no appetite. They keep trying to give me stuff for GERD symptoms but nothing has helped. I am not a doctor but my guess would be, the antibiotics did a number on my stomach and it has not recovered. I have had CAT scans, Endoscopies, and other tests, which have all came back as normal. I literally cried for a long time last night as I have not felt normal for 2 months. My home life with my 3 kids has suffered as well as my relationship with my wife, she is pretty much like a single parent. My anxiety level is through the roof, so bad, last Friday I ended up in the ER thinking I was having a heart attack and everything was fine with my heart. I had been on Protonix for 3 weeks and saw no results whatsoever. I ended up on antidepressants for anxiety which also made things worse. I contacted my doctor to tell him I am stopping the Protonix and the anti-depressant as they are actually making things worse. I am REALLY REALLY desperate to find some answers. Could the antibiotics have messed my stomach up enough that it is having a hard time recovering? I finally decided to try going to the chiropractor today to see if that could help along with some natural remedies from the Good Food Store here in town. Me and my family would be eternally grateful for any insight. I am leaving in 4 days for a trip from Minnesota to Florida, usually the highlight of our year and I am absolutely dreading the drive. I have been also feeling light headed and dizzy, my guess is due to my lack of nutrients for weeks now. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

Hi, I would like to know if your H. pylori has been eradicated. you'll need to do a breath test to find out. you should be able to do it in any GP. prior the test, you'll need to stop all acid reducing drug for at least 2 weeks (3 weeks will be best).

Then, if antibiotics gives you all the problem? based on what you described, probably not. in some cases (i wouldnt say rare, but not common either), antibiotics does upset the normal flora in the guts and patients developed IBD and reflux. in very rare cases, massive antibiotics treatment give patients ulcerative colitis, which can be diagnosed from colonoscopy.

Nevertheless, let's discuss more after you find out if you have successfully eradicated H. pylori. perhaps you havent and all these symptoms are because of the resistant H. pylori.

another answer is found from the following link
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=203943#p207702

Thanks for your response. I do have a few more questions. First, is it true that when you have the blood test done for h. pylori, there are alot of cases where you could get false positives? Secondly, is it possible that the anti-biotics does a number on your stomach? (The practitioner did say that I may feel worse before I fell better but I didn't think it would be 1 1/2 months of bad). Third, would taking probiotics help at all after taking all the antibiotics? I have been at other sites that the patients have experienced some pretty tough side-effects from taking all the anti-biotics and my stomach hasn't been the same since. I do see my GI specialist yet this week but it would be nice to have some more info before I go in to see him. How about my loss of appetite, is that something common with h. pylori or with taking high doses of anti-biotics? Also, I have lost alot of weight since this whole ordeal began, 19 pounds in 2 months or so. I cannot afford to lose weight any longer. Any ideas on what could help that? Thanks for your responses, I truly appreciate it.

Blood test is quite accurate, in terms of very low false negative. false positive usually refer to patients who had antibiotics before. this is because in blood test, we are detecting the antibody against H. pylori. The antibody will stay in your body for up to 3 years. so once you are infected with h. pylori, we will be able to detect the antibody for H. pylori for the next 3 years regardless if it is eradicated.

antibiotics normally upset your stomach by giving you diarrhea, nausea, metallic taste in your mouth, dark stool and urine. These side effect is experience differently among patients. however, most of the people dont feel a thing. you probably are more sensitive to the side effects than the majority population.

the usefulness of probiotic is unsure. however, my believe is it has no usefulness during antibiotic treatment as they will be killed. i believe there will be some help after antibiotic treatment to help replenish the good bacteria in the guts. lots of fruits can also help.

your lost of appetite probably due to the antibiotics. However, try to think positive. hopefully you can go through this.

Hopefully, I can go through this???? I was hoping for a bit more positive response. I am fairly certain I WILL come through this but it is the process that is concerning me. Everything I have read here says that people react differently to the medications as well as the bacteria. I am just looking for some hope my friend. Thanks.

you are right. not everyone has the same symptom and side effects. however, people who finish the treatment course had shown high success rate.

so what antibiotics are you taking now?

I have been off of the antibiotics for about 5 weeks now. To be honest, I cannot even remember what my initial pain felt like. Like I said, I have been feeling sick since Superbowl Sunday. I have been feeling sick to stomach at least 2-3 times a day, feeling light-headed and dizzy (could this be from lack of food), gas pains (at least I think they are gas pains) from my stomach to my chest and along my sides (daily). How soon after finishing the antibitotics could the symptoms of h. pylori return? I am not 100% certain if it is the h. pylori symptoms or a leftover mess from the antibiotics. I was taking amoxicillin, clarithym(something) and a generic prevacid for 2 weeks. I have been off of the antibiotics for 5 weeks now. About 3 weeks agon they had me back on Protonix which seemed to make me have terrible gas pains as well as not helping anything at all. I am wondering if some of the stomach pains are from not eating enough which makes me stressed, because of how much weight I have lost, which causes my stomach to hurt more, which stresses me out and it's just a vicious cycle that I cannot come out of.

I have been eating one or two servings of yogurt, a couple banana's, one can of chicken noodle soup, one glass of Carnations Instant breakfast and some Gatorade for weeks now. I am not real sure how much longer I can take just eating that amount of food.

These antibiotics are very safe and gives little side effect. usually the side effect of these antibiotics clear up once you stop taking. I suspect that your HP is not clear up. How about a follow up breath test to check if you are still infected?

I had a stool test done yesterday and I am having a breath test done today to check for other bacterial infections I think?? Hopefully I'll get some answers soon as this has gone on long enough.

A couple more quick questions....can h. pylori symptoms show up shortly after finishing the antibiotics if they did not work? Is it common to have consistent pain with h. pylori? I have been having stomach to chest to back pains for weeks now, having nothing to do with eating. I was curious if others have experienced the agony all the time not just around meals, which is what I seem to have. Thanks.